Central View: Active measures, leaks and treason

The cover of the Summer 2017, issue of The Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies, the quarterly publication of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO), proclaims in large, bold, yellow letters: “Leaks = Treason.” Oh my! That means The Intelligencer, which serves as both the tribune and the conscience of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), is calling some of its anti-Trump members to task for leaking classified information to the main-stream media (MSM).

In her article “Keeping Secrets,” AFIO Director Emeritus, Elizabeth Bancroft, urges her IC colleagues to “…Be the mature adult who honors agreements and promises. If you deeply disagree with policies and find no institutional way to resolve the matter internally, quietly depart for other employment. Anything else is immoral and a betrayal of your agency, colleagues, and the country. Disregard all the self-serving, faux moral handwringing by prize-seeking journalists, and fellow conspirators, urging you to spill classified secrets, while dismissing your appropriate concerns over your about-to-be destroyed career and reputation. Like all traitors, you will have crossed over to the other side, with no passport for return.”

The pleas by Bancroft and other leaders of the IC to get their own house in order are not taking place in a vacuum. The broader problem faced by the IC and, for that matter, faced by all non-Russian nations since the time of the communist takeover of Russia, comes under the heading of “Active Measures.”

Today’s history challenged MSM would have us believe that attempted Russian interference in the election of 2016 was unique. The history of Soviet, now Russian, Active Measures tells a far different story. Wikipedia tells us: “Active Measures is a Soviet term for the actions of political warfare conducted by the Soviet and Russian security services (Cheka, OGPU, NKVD, KGB, and FSB) to influence the course of world events.” Active Measures include, but are not limited to: political campaign disinformation, propaganda, assassinations, counterfeiting official documents, and the penetration of domestic political party organizations and campaigns.

According to retired KGB General Oleg Kalugin, Active Measures are “the heart and soul” of Soviet intelligence. The objectives are to create fissures among the Western allies, disrupt NATO, to sow discord within the United States, and to prepare the psychological battle ground in advance of actual war.

In addition to throwing the cat among the pigeons in U.S. elections, Russian Active Measures have been used, just to mention a few examples, to: discredit the CIA, to discredit Martin Luther King, Jr., to stir up racial tensions by mailing bogus letters from the KKK, by saying fluoridated drinking water is a U.S. government attempt at population control, by claiming the moon landings were hoaxes, by asserting that the strategic defense initiative “Star Wars” would not work, and saying that the AIDS virus was created by the U.S. Army at Ft. Detrick, MD.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, The House Intelligence Committee, and a Special Counsel are spending time and taxpayer money to investigate an alleged, yet unproven, connection between Russia and Trump campaign operatives. The IC “leakers” who have “crossed over the line,” are adding to the already overly partisan discord. So, how effective are Vladimir Putin’s Active Measures? We report. You decide.

Nationally syndicated columnist, William Hamilton, is a laureate of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame, the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma University Army ROTC Wall of Fame, and is a recipient of the University of Nebraska 2015 Alumni Achievement Award. He was educated at the University of Oklahoma, the George Washington University, the U.S Naval War College, the University of Nebraska, and Harvard University. For more, see: http://www.central-view.com.

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